Notebook: Rivalry Time Again

Baseball

Notebook: Rivalry Time Again

Kutztown's Nate Reed tosses no-hitter in win over Bloomsburg
The Golden Bears (32-9) are making news again....Nate Reed threw the team's first no-hitter since 2004 last Sunday as the 10th ranked Golden Bears cruised to a 13-0 victory in the first game of a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division doubleheader against Bloomsburg. Reed's no-hitter helped the Golden Bears top the 30-win mark for the seventh consecutive year and this was the first no-hitter for Reed, a University of Pittsburgh transfer.
"My teammates were great today and it was important to win the game first and foremost," Reed said. "This is something I will remember for a long time. I like Kutztown a lot and today was nice. My team made some amazing plays in support of me."

In the team's two mid-week games, they outscored opponents Albright and Adelphi 38-5...Kutztown, ranked number one in the Atlantic Region, defeated Albright College 18-4 on Monday and then went to Garden City, NY on Wednesday and cut down Adelphi, 20-1. Adelphi (26-12) sits at third in the East Region.

Southern Arkansas Continues to Dominate
Southern Arkansas holds down the top spot in all three national baseball polls for the third consecutive week with Monday's release of the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (CBN) coaches' and PING!Baseball polls and Tuesday's National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA) rankings.

The Muleriders (38-4) went 3-1 over the last week, dropping a Tuesday decision at Louisiana State-Shreveport before finishing strong with a three-game Gulf South Conference sweep at Ouachita Baptist during the weekend that gave them their second consecutive GSC West Division title and first-ever outright title after sharing last year's. SAU has won 27 of its past 28 games.

Central Missouri (36-5), UCSD (37-6), Sunshine State Conference (SSC) and fellow south region member Florida Southern (37-6) and Francis Marion (S.C.) (35-10) round out the top five behind Southern Arkansas in the CBN coaches' poll.

SSC and south region member Tampa (39-8) dropped a pair of games on the week and slips from a tie at third to sixth this week. GSC East member Valdosta State (Ga.) (35-12) is 14th and West foe Delta State (Miss.) (31-13-1) slips five spots to 20th after being swept in three games this past weekend by Arkansas Tech, which surprisingly didn't even receive votes in the CBN poll. SSC and region member Rollins (Fla.) (29-15) pops into the poll at 28th.

Rivalry Week
Some major matchups coming this week all across the country.

In the South...
It's the classic battle between University of Tampa and Florida Southern in the SSC (Sunshine State Conference). Tampa (39-8, 18-3 SSC) is coming off its first series loss of the season last weekend to fellow SSC foe Barry (28-14, 10-8 SSC). The Spartans, now ranked third in the latest South Region poll, dropped a doubleheader to the Buccaneers, 5-4 and 14-10 last Saturday. The Spartans earned the win on Friday night, 8-7. Florida Southern (37-7, 12-3 SSC) lost the final game of its series at Palm Beach Atlantic, 5-3 last Saturday, and lost to Embry-Riddle on Tuesday, 4-3. The Moccasins did leap frog the Spartans in the South Region poll, moving to two. Barry is hanging in there at eighth. The top eight teams go to the NCAA Regional post play.

Tampa can secure the SSC title with a series win over Florida Southern. Florida Southern still has six league games left to play after the Tampa series. FSC leads the all-time series 97-83.

The Spartans lead the SSC in hitting (.359, 75 HRs), while the Mocs lead the SSC in pitching (3.66 ERA).
Tampa has the league's top hitter in Mike Schwartz (.404, 10 HR, 46 RBI), while the Mocs have the SSC pitching leader in wins & strikeouts (Max Russell (9-0, 88Ks in 68.1 IP), as well as the saves leader in Daniel Tillman (12).

Also in the South...
The SAU Muleriders (38-4, 17-0 GSC), the nation's top team, conclude their regular season with three games at No. 20 Delta State (32-13-1, 11-6 GSC) this weekend in their annual showdown before GSC (Gulf South Conference) tournament play May 1-5 in Millington, Tenn. The Muleriders are a perfect 17-0 in conference, have already secured the GSC West title and are looking to remain undeafeated. The Statesmen, ranked seventh on the South Region, are looking to make some noise and take down SAU so they can gain ground in the regional rankings. The Statesmen and Muleriders have enjoyed a long and competitive series, with DSU holding a 52-22 edge in the series. DSU took 2-of-3 last year in Magnolia, Ark., to claim a share of the West Division title. In the last meeting at Ferriss Field, the Statesmen swept SAU 5-4 and 10-1 in a rain-shortened series. The three game Gulf South Conference series will begin Saturday at 3 p.m. (DH) and conclude Sunday at 2 p.m.

Statesmen to Watch - Josh Gordon (3B)
Senior 3B Josh Gordon (6-2/Vicksburg) has been a constant for the Statesmen this season, leading the club in average (.424), hits (75) runs (54) and home runs (8). He currently leads the GSC with 75 hits and ranks third in batting average with a .424 mark. He boasts a .633 slugging percentage and a whopping .500 on-base percentage.

In the Southeast...
The Wingate University Bulldogs, who claimed their first conference championship since 2000, are the top seed for the 2010 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament, which kicks off today at McNair Field in Forest City, N.C.
Wingate, 28-16 overall with one non-conference game remaining Sunday and 19-5 in conference play, captured its fifth conference title in school history. The Bulldogs will face sixth-seed Lincoln Memorial University in the tournament's opening game on today at noon.
The Railsplitters went 12-12 in conference play, securing the sixth seed on Saturday with a split against Lenoir-Rhyne University. LMU, 24-22 overall, is making its first appearance in the SAC baseball tournament and first conference tournament appearance since 1998.

Mars Hill College and Catawba College tied for second in the conference standings with 16-8 records. Mars Hill earned the second seed by virtue of its three-game sweep over Catawba earlier this season.

The Lions, 27-15 overall, will face fifth-seed Tusculum College in Thursday's opening-round action at 3:45 p.m. The Pioneers are 29-26 overall and 13-11 in the SAC.

Catawba, 16-8 in the SAC and 34-9 overall with one non-conference game remaining, is the third seed and will face fourth-seed Carson-Newman College in the nightcap game on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The Eagles went 15-9 in the SAC and are 29-15 overall. The Catawba Indians won two of three in their conference series against Carson-Newman this weekend.

The Indians, ranked 28th nationally by Collegiate Baseball, are the tournament's defending champion.
The top six teams in the conference earned berths to the Food Lion SAC Tournament. The bracket format follows the NCAA regional six-team bracket.

Tournament play continues with three games on Friday with games at noon, 3:45 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Three more games are set for Saturday. The championship game will be played Sunday at 1 p.m., with a second game, if necessary, to follow.
The tournament champion will receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship.

Game 11 (if necessary), Game 10 winner vs. Game 10 loser, 4 pm
* If five teams remain after Game 6, and two after Game 9 OR If five teams remain after Game 6, and three after Game 9, then alternate brackets will be used.

In the West...
The third-ranked UC San Diego baseball team (37-6, 27-5 California Collegiate Athletic Association) puts its first-place conference standing on the line this week when it faces No. 10 Cal State Dominguez Hills (34-11, 24-8 CCAA) on Friday, April 23 with a 3:00 p.m. first pitch at Triton Ballpark. Saturday will be the scheduled doubleheader at 12:00 p.m. in Carson on the CSUDH campus. Sunday will now be the final game of the series with a 12:00 p.m. first pitch at Triton Ballpark. Both squads have clinched spots in the CCAA Baseball Tournament and are the top two seeds in the NCAA West Regional Rankings. Dominguez leads the series, 30-26.

The Toros recently had their 12-game winning streak snapped, but have won 18 of their last 20 games, including taking 3-of-4 at Chico State last week. CSUDH lost the first game to CSUC 6-5, but won the last three games of the series by scores of 3-0, 7-3 and 4-3. Kevin Pillar of Cal State Dominguez Hills enters the week with a 43 game hitting streak. The NCAA Division II record is a 49 game hitting streak. Pillar is hitting at a .391 clip with a team-high 70 hits. Abel Medina leads the Toros with his .419 average and is tied for the team lead with seven homeruns. The Toros like to run as Kevin Logan leads a trio of Toros with at least 10 stolen bases. Logan has swiped 16 bases in 18 attempts in 2010 and the Toros have swiped 63 bases as a team. CSUDH fields the ball well with a .974 fielding percentage.

On the mound, CSUDH has one of the best staff's in the CCAA. Bret Montgomery has been the leader and is in the running for the conference Pitcher of the Year award. Montgomery is 5-3 with a 2.47 ERA, holding opponents to a .187 batting average. He has struck out 72 hitters while walking just 22. Shane Youngdale is 5-2 with a 3.67 ERA while Kody Kurowski is 7-2 with a 5.40 ERA. David Fair has made eight starts and is 3-0 with a 5.44 ERA. Matt Phillips is the closer with a 5-0 record, 4.11 ERA and 10 saves, holding opponents to a .212 batting average.

Last week the Tritons won 3-of-4 from Cal State L.A. After losing the first game 2-1, UCSD rebounded to take the final three games by scores of 10-4, 13-6 and 5-4. In two of those games, the Tritons trailed in the late innings, but each time, UCSD came up with a rally to put the game away. UCSD enters the week with a .370 team batting average. Brandon Gregorich leads the way with his .474 average, 74 hits and 61 RBI. Aaron Bauman is hitting at a .417 clip and is tied for the team lead with seven homeruns. Kellen Lee also has seven homeruns and is hitting .400. Kyle Saul is another Triton hitting over .400 with his .406 average. As a team, UCSD has stolen 51 bases with 118 doubles and 48 homeruns. UCSD is leading the nation in fielding percentage with a .984 average.

Random Notes...

The University of New Haven baseball team, ranked second in the East Region, defeated Merrimack College in two games on Sunday afternoon. The Chargers won the openinggame 6-3 and again won the second by a score of 5-4. New Haven improves to 24-9 overall and 12-6 in the Northeast-10 Conference. The Warriors fall to 13-13 overall and 8-11 in conference play... Kutztown concludes the final week a weekend PSAC East series against Millersville and a home non-conference contest against Philadelphia on Monday (3 p.m.). The Golden Bears are home against Millersville Friday and on the road Saturday...Adelphi fell out of the national Top 25 poll this week...Second-ranked Central Missouri (36-5, 28-4 MIAA), tops in the South Central Region, will face Truman State in a MIAA (Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association) conference matchup this weekend...Seventh-ranked New Mexico Highlands (32-6, 22-3 RMAC), tops in the Central Region, will face off against conference foe Mesa State (24-13, 19-9 RMAC) this weekend. The Mavericks sit at fifth in the Central Region and this is a crucial Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference matchup for both teams.